Avatar and the Virtual Camera

Filming computer-generated scenes is usually a big - and time-consuming - pain.Enter the virtual camera. This new technology used in James Cameron’s 3-D sci-fi epic, Avatar, (which I'm seeing tonight!) and Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 videogame marks the next generation of animation creation.Programmers first create a virtual environment which serves as the set.But instead of peopling the world with animated characters, a director shoots a scene on the fly on a handheld screen using actors in motion-capture bodysuits.In the deft hands of a filmmaker like Cameron it brings a freshly – and fleshly - organic feel to the CG process. It'll be interesting to see future applications of this in film and games.